The discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly. – Proverbs 15:14 (NIV)

The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness. – Proverbs 15:14 (KJV)

52 Proverbs in 52 Weeks – Week 47
This week’s theme:  God’s Life Hacks, simple Biblical truths to increase the fruitfulness and happiness of our lives.

God’s Life Hack:  Seek Knowledge

Last week Proverbs 15:13 spoke to the benefits of having a happy heart.  This week’s verse, which happens to be the next one in Proverbs 15, teaches that we should also have hearts seeking knowledge.

Let’s look at Proverbs 15:14 in reverse, starting with the second part of the verse: “…the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.”  A quick Google search offers this definition for folly:   “lack of good sense; foolishness.”  It’s amazing to think that Solomon wrote this verse almost 3,000 years ago, but it’s still so true today.  Almost anywhere we look we find a host of people feeding on absolute nonsense and foolishness.  Just take a quick glance at our news, Facebook feeds, twitter, Snapchat, television shows, YouTube, … even some of what’s taught in our schools and (sadly) sometimes our churches.  It’s become difficult to separate fact from fiction and truth from lies.  But what’s worse–and this is the point of the second part of Proverbs 15:14–is that some folks don’t seem to even want to know the truth.  They don’t have hearts seeking true knowledge, and they’re content to keep consuming nonsense.  Solomon has a word to describe these people:  fools.

Which brings us back to the first part of Proverbs 15:14.  Those with a “discerning heart” seek knowledge.  And our very first post for 2018 tells us where to start that search:
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge… – Proverbs 1:7 (NIV)
When it becomes hard to separate fact from fiction and truth from lies, we must turn to the definitive source of true wisdom:  our God and His Word.  There is no “Fake News” in Proverbs.

Earlier this year we had a series of posts on the source of true knowledge and wisdom.  Here are a few links:
The beginning of knowledge
More valuable than silver or gold
Fake Wisdom

Here’s a link to more verse posts on  God’s Life Hacks.

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